HUB Investment Partners LLC Lowers Holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT)

HUB Investment Partners LLC reduced its position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) by 63.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 24,128 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 42,384 shares during the period. HUB Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust were worth $420,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 125.7% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,162 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 1,204 shares in the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the third quarter worth about $63,000. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 114.4% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 7,003 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $122,000 after purchasing an additional 3,736 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 39.3% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 7,601 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $132,000 after purchasing an additional 2,145 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 1,416.7% in the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 9,631 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $168,000 after buying an additional 8,996 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.15% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE:BXMT opened at $20.71 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.55 billion, a P/E ratio of -17.70 and a beta of 1.52. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $19.43 and its 200-day moving average price is $18.86. Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. has a 12-month low of $16.53 and a 12-month high of $21.24.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.87) by $1.26. Blackstone Mortgage Trust had a positive return on equity of 8.62% and a negative net margin of 11.54%. As a group, research analysts predict that Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. will post 1.65 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.47 dividend. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.08%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s payout ratio is -160.68%.

Insider Activity at Blackstone Mortgage Trust

In related news, CEO Katharine A. Keenan sold 2,315 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.70, for a total transaction of $47,920.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 246,172 shares in the company, valued at $5,095,760.40. The trade was a 0.93 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders sold 5,652 shares of company stock worth $116,971 in the last three months. 0.93% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on BXMT shares. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $18.50 to $19.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Wolfe Research upgraded Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $20.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $17.50 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $18.50 to $19.50 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone Mortgage Trust has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.67.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Profile

Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc, a real estate finance company, originates senior loans collateralized by commercial properties in North America, Europe, and Australia. The company originates and acquires senior floating rate mortgage loans that are secured by a first-priority mortgage on commercial real estate assets.